Here we are in the middle of the coldest season. Is anyone else getting a little restless? You can frolic outside, sure.But afterward, take advantage...

Oct. 1, 2018

The cat's meow

By Kaitlin Ungs

Kaitlin Ungs is a 20-something Midwest gal who loves kids, the outdoors, travel, art, and books of all kinds. Find her and her social media at kaitlinungs.com.

We’ve found the paw-fect way to entertain your little animal lovers, including some of the cutest books of the year, plus two stories by local authors and a cat-lover classic to boot.

Little Fox has all the best dance moves, so Big Cat tries to be exactly like Little Fox before the big dance party. But it simply doesn’t work, even when Big Cat paints her bushy tail. Fortunately, Little Fox figures out a winning solution for Big Cat in this tale from Minneapolis-based author Cheryl Stephani, who was inspired her own Maine Coon cat’s backyard shenanigans.

In this tall tale for true cat lovers, originally published in 1928, a man sets out to find the prettiest cat for his wife and ends up bringing back “hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.”

These nearly identical kitties — living as neighbors in the big city — are friends from afar. One day, when they accidentally switch places, their kid owners must do some serious sleuthing to solve the case of their misbehaving cats!

Get in the Halloween spirit with an independent little witch named Margaret, who accidentally conjures a horde of cats, who turn out to be a lot of fun, but also oodles of work! Exceptionally playful and gorgeously drawn, this story by Minneapolis-based author-illustrator E. Dee Taylor is one to enjoy all year long.

Make counting — and even early math concepts — fun with stacks of cute, cartoony kitties (reminiscent of the cat-collecting game Neko Atsume). Heads up: Birds in Balance by the same author comes out this month.